RUMFORD, Maine – Sarah Wright (Wyoming, Minn.) finished 14th in the women’s 15K freestyle technique race on the final day of competition to help the University of New Hampshire ski team to a ninth-place finish at the 2009 NCAA Skiing Championships, which were held by Bates College from March 12-14 at Black Mountain and Sunday River.

UNH returns to the top 10 for the first time since 2006, when the Wildcats also finished in ninth place; the ‘Cats had finished 11th each of the past two years. New Hampshire compiled 394 points overall and had the second-highest alpine team score of 353 on the strength of eight All-America performances.

Denver won its second consecutive ski title with 659 points and was followed by Colorado (602.5 points), New Mexico (602), Alaska-Anchorage (584) and Vermont (573). Utah (568), Dartmouth (555), Middlebury (426), UNH and Nevada (284) rounded out the top 10 in the 22-team meet.

Wright excelled in the free technique races during the Eastern carnival circuit and continued that at the NCAAs with her 14th-place finish. She completed the Black Mountain course in 39 minutes, 56.1 seconds to earn 26 points for the ‘Cats.

Three UNH skiers had multiple All-America efforts this year in the alpine events at Sunday River. Aileen Farrell (Ottawa, Ontario) finished fifth in Friday’s slalom and eighth in Thursday’s giant slalom, and was the top ‘Cat in both of those women’s races. Veronique Archambault-Leger (Verdun, Quebec) placed seventh in the slalom and 10th in the GS to earn a pair of All-America accolades.

On the men’s side, Willie Ford (Plymouth, N.H.) took eighth in the GS and ninth in the slalom to earn All-America recognition twice. Sean McNamara (Honeoye Falls, N.Y.) placed fifth in the slalom and Michael Cremeno (Pembroke, N.H.) was sixth in the GS to produce UNH’s other All-America performances.